Sports

Can Rockies' Rosario learn to catch?

Catcher is trying to improve defensively

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz — Sitting in front of his locker inside the Rockies' clubhouse at spring training, Wilin Rosario braced for the question he has heard so many times before.

"I've been working hard on my game," he said as beads of sweat ran down his face. "I've worked on blocking, receiving, calling the game, all of those things that I know I can do better behind the plate."

He paused, then grinned, adding: "I'm going to show you. I'm going to show the world."

That basic question, of course, is what must the power-hitting, 25-year-old catcher do to become better defensively? Which leads to a bigger-picture question: Can the Rockies compete for a postseason berth with Rosario crouched behind the plate?

The Rockies continue to say yes, but their offseason interest in free-agent catchers Brian McCann and Carlos Ruiz suggested doubt about Rosario's development.

The Rockies actively pursued Ruiz, who is solid defensively, but were unwilling to get into a bidding war. Ruiz ended up accepting a three-year, $26 million contract to return to the Philadelphia Phillies.

"We've talked a lot to Wilin about his receiving and trying to get better there," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "I have been very impressed with the way he's been receiving the ball this spring. I think he paid a lot of attention to it this winter. His hands look softer already, and he's catching borderline pitches, guiding them into the strike zone."

Advertisement

No one doubts that Rosario can hit. He has led National League catchers in home runs the past two seasons — 28 in 2012, 21 in 2013 — and his 52 homers since his Sept. 6, 2011, debut are more than any other big-league catcher.

Those numbers have stirred comparisons to Mike Piazza, a Hall of Fame candidate who finished his 16-year career with 427 home runs. Piazza often has been described as a good-bat, bad-glove catcher. True, Piazza was terrible when trying to throw out base-stealers, allowing a .768 stolen-base percentage in his career. But he did a good job handling pitchers. In his career behind the plate, pitchers had a 3.80 ERA when Piazza was catching. Also, Piazza made the playoffs with three clubs: the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995-96, New York Mets in 1999-2000 and San Diego Padres in 2006.

Compared with Piazza, Rosario has a long way to go. Yes, Rosario has cut down on passed balls, allowing nine in 2013 compared with 21 in 2012. But TheScore.com, which takes into account stolen bases, caught stealing and errors, placed Rosario only 97th among 101 catchers surveyed last season.

In terms of thwarting steals, Rosario actually regressed last year. In 2012, he threw out 32 percent of attempted base-stealers, 5 percent better than the league average. But in 2013, he threw out only 19-of-53 would-be base-stealers (26 percent), one percentage point below the league average.

And while Rosario has gotten better handling pitches in the dirt, he must improve. According to an advance catching metrics system created by Baseball Prospectus, Rosario's total run value in preventing passed balls and wild pitches last season was minus-0.3. By comparison, the Cardinals' Yadier Molina's run value was 13.8 and the Giants' Buster Posey was 10.4.

Rosario's biggest challenge, according to a statistical analysis by Brooks Baseball, remains framing pitches. In 2013, in 6,035 framing opportunities (i.e., taken pitches around the strike zone), he was a below-average framer, which resulted in 90.90 fewer strikes than would be expected from a league-average catcher. Brooks Baseball's summation: "This was of disastrously awful value, resulting in 13.69 lost runs."

Dye pours in 19 for TrojansSmothering. Confounding. And just a tad frustrating ... at least for the opposition.
Longmont's defense, whether they are playing a 1-3-1 zone, 2-3 zone or man-to-man -- and it can switch from possession to possession -- can give teams fits. Full Story

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story